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“Read it Later” app becomes the now free “Pocket”

Four years ago, Read it Later was created to allow users to save their web content to view later on their own schedule. One year ago, Read It Later had 2.5 million users; now it has 4.5 million. This growth made it the number one paid news app for Android and Kindle Fire and a top app for iPhone and iPad. Today, the company announced a new version of their flagship app -- now free across all devices -- and a new name, Pocket.

Pocket is for when people discover an interesting article, video or web page, but don't have time to view it. Once saved to Pocket, the list of content is visible on any device -- phone, tablet or computer. It can be viewed while waiting in line, on the couch or during commutes or travel -- even offline. Pocket is available today for free in the App Store atgetpocket.com/ios, on Google Play (formerly the Android Marketplace) at getpocket.com/android, and for Kindle Fire at getpocket.com/kindlefire.

"Nearly five items every second are saved to Pocket from the web and popular news apps, including videos, articles, recipes and more," said Nate Weiner, founder of Read it Later and creator of Pocket. "Pocket is the perfect name for our latest version as it expresses how simple it is to take any content users discover with them, no matter where they go."

Pocket is different than "bookmarking," apps, which organize links for long term storage. Instead, Pocket lets users save the content they discover on the web or inside any of over 300 leading apps--including Flipboard, Twitter, Pulse, and Zite--with a single tap and view it on any device.

Since its launch in 2007, over 200 million items have been saved, giving the company deep insight into how and when consumers save and view their web content. Key findings include:

33 percent of saved items come from 3rd party apps including Twitter, Zite, Flipboard and Pulse.

Web consumption peaks in the early morning and declines through the day, as consumers dig through their inboxes and find what they want to view later. iPad use peaks at night, as users view saved content in the pre-bedtime hours. Mobile consumption maps to commuting times, as users increasingly view content in transit.

40 percent of items saved are not articles; popular content include videos, images, things to buy, travel tips and recipes.

YouTube is the apps' most popular source of content, as users increasingly are saving videos for later viewing.

The new Pocket update is focused on making the most important parts of the user experience as easy and simple as possible. It enhances all the features users already loved in Read it Later in a beautiful new interface.

A Cleaner, Simpler UI. The new user interface of Pocket displays all of a user's content in a beautiful, easy-to-view layout adapted to take full advantage of high definition displays.

Video & Image Filters. Most people save sites with videos and images, in addition to articles and text. Pocket automatically filters all content so users can quickly switch between articles, videos and images with just a tap.

Enhanced Viewing Experience. Articles, videos and anything saved is displayed in a clean and simplified view with fewer toolbars and a redesigned full-screen mode.

Easier to Organize. New bulk editing, favoriting and tagging modes make organizing and browsing saved items easier. Users can find content by keywords, publications or create their own custom tags.

Favorites. Users can star favorite content so it is always available when they want to find it.

Pocket is Free on All Major Mobile Platforms. Pocket is now available, for free, on all major mobile platforms including Android phones and tablets, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Amazon Kindle Fire.